Tools

Tools allow the LLM to perform actions in your codebase. TF Code comes with built-in tools and supports MCP servers and custom tools via plugins.

Configure

Use the permission field to control tool behavior — allow, deny, or require approval:

{
  "permission": {
    "edit": "allow",
    "bash": "ask",
    "webfetch": "deny"
  }
}

Wildcard patterns:

{
  "permission": {
    "mymcp_*": "ask"
  }
}

Built-in Tools

Tool	Description	Permission Key
bash	Execute shell commands	bash
edit	Modify files using exact string replacements	edit
write	Create new files or overwrite existing	edit
read	Read file contents	read
grep	Search file contents using regex	grep
glob	Find files by pattern matching	glob
apply_patch	Apply patches to files	edit
skill	Load a skill and return its content	skill
skill_manage	Create, read, update, and delete local skills	skill
agent	Create, read, update, and delete local agents	agent
loop	Create, read, update, and delete loop definitions	loop
tfcode_config	Read and update config sections (reviewer, model_swap, loops)	tfcode_config
todowrite	Manage todo lists during sessions	todowrite
webfetch	Fetch web content	webfetch
websearch	Search the web for information	websearch
question	Ask the user questions during execution	question
lsp	Interact with LSP servers (experimental)	lsp

Note: write and apply_patch are controlled by the edit permission key.

Agent Management

The agent tool lets agents create, read, update, and delete local agents stored as markdown files in .tfcode/agent/<name>.md. TF-synced agents (from ToothFairyAI) and native agents are read-only and cannot be modified.

Actions

Action	Description
list	List all agents (local, native, and TF-synced) with source labels
read	Read a specific agent's full config (frontmatter + prompt)
create	Create a new agent markdown file (refuses to overwrite)
update	Update an existing local agent's frontmatter and/or prompt
delete	Delete a local agent file (refuses for native or TF-synced)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required for	Description
action	list | read | create | update | delete	all	The CRUD action to perform
name	string	read/update/delete	Agent name
description	string	—	When to use this agent
mode	subagent | primary | all	—	Agent visibility — subagent = hidden from switcher, invocable via @ and task; primary = switchable agent; all = both. See Agents → Agent modes.
model	string	—	Model in provider/model format
hidden	boolean	—	Hide from @ autocomplete (subagents only)
color	string	—	Hex color or theme name
steps	number	—	Max agentic iterations
permission	object	—	Permission rules (see Permissions)
temperature	number	—	Temperature for the agent's model
top_p	number	—	Top_p for the agent's model
variant	string	—	Default model variant for this agent
prompt	string	—	The agent's system prompt (markdown body)

Examples

Create a translator subagent:

{
  "action": "create",
  "name": "translator",
  "description": "Translate content for a specified locale",
  "mode": "subagent",
  "prompt": "You are a professional translator specializing in technical documentation."
}

Update an agent's temperature:

{
  "action": "update",
  "name": "translator",
  "temperature": 0.7
}

note

The model parameter is optional. When omitted, the agent inherits the session's active model — dynamically resolved from your ToothFairyAI workspace. Only set model if the agent should always use a specific model. Use /models in the TUI to discover available models.

List all agents:

{ "action": "list" }

Delete an agent:

{ "action": "delete", "name": "translator" }

Skill Management

The skill_manage tool lets agents create, read, update, and delete local skills stored as SKILL.md files in .tfcode/skill/<name>/SKILL.md. TF-synced skills (from ToothFairyAI, locations starting with tf://) are read-only.

Actions

Same five actions as the agent tool: list, read, create, update, delete.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required for	Description
action	list | read | create | update | delete	all	The CRUD action to perform
name	string	read/update/delete	Skill name
description	string	create	Skill description
content	string	—	The skill content (markdown body)

Examples

Create a deployment skill:

{
  "action": "create",
  "name": "deploy",
  "description": "Deployment workflows and runbooks",
  "content": "# Deploy Skill\n\nSteps to deploy to production..."
}

Loop Management

The loop tool lets agents create, read, update, and delete loop definitions in the project config. See Loops for full loop documentation.

Actions

Same five actions: list, read, create, update, delete.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required for	Description
action	list | read | create | update | delete	all	The CRUD action to perform
name	string	read/update/delete	Loop name
description	string	—	Loop description
steps	array of step objects	create	Ordered steps for the loop

Each step object has: name (required), prompt (required), agent, skill, review, model — see Loops → Step.

Example

{
  "action": "create",
  "name": "fix-bug",
  "description": "Read, build, test, review",
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "read",
      "prompt": "Read and understand the task.",
      "agent": "plan"
    },
    { "name": "build", "prompt": "Implement the change." },
    { "name": "test", "prompt": "Run tests. If failing, loop back to build." },
    { "name": "review", "prompt": "Review for correctness.", "review": true }
  ]
}

Config Management

The tfcode_config tool lets agents read and update top-level config sections without editing JSON manually. It also supports deleting a section.

Sections

Section	Config Key	Description
reviewer	reviewer	Reviewer model configuration
model_swap	model_swap	Model swap configuration
loops_settings	loops	Top-level loops settings (compaction, guards, auto)

note

Loop definitions are managed via the loop tool, not tfcode_config. The loops_settings section only covers top-level settings (compaction_threshold, compaction_model, max_step_repeats, max_transitions, auto).

Actions

Action	Description
read	Read a config section's current value
update	Update a config section (deep-merges existing)
delete	Remove a config section from config

Examples

Read reviewer config:

{ "action": "read", "section": "reviewer" }

Enable model swap with a candidate list:

{
  "action": "update",
  "section": "model_swap",
  "value": {
    "enabled_for": ["build"],
    "models": [
      {
        "id": "toothfairyai/glm-5p2",
        "instruction": "Use for deep reasoning"
      },
      {
        "id": "toothfairyai/glm-5p2",
        "instruction": "Use for quick lookups"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Configure loops compaction settings:

{
  "action": "update",
  "section": "loops_settings",
  "value": {
    "compaction_threshold": 0.6,
    "max_step_repeats": 5
  }
}

Disable Tools

Globally:

{
  "tools": {
    "write": false,
    "bash": false
  }
}

Per-Agent Overrides

{
  "permission": {
    "edit": "deny"
  },
  "agent": {
    "build": {
      "permission": {
        "edit": "ask"
      }
    }
  }
}

Agent permissions override global settings.